I had a feeling that after they filmed that horrible ABBA movie, something bad was going to happen to Greece. Now it has, and the country is riddled with violent protests and bank bombings. Fearing a complete collapse of the government, people around the world are focused on Greece and preparing for the worst. These problems are just a part at the issues surrounding countries like Portugal and Spain, and could spell disaster for economies around the world. With this in mind, I thought this would be the perfect time to celebrate Greek contributions to the automobile industry.
Not many people know that Greece builds cars, and even fewer care. In spite of that, I will make a list of Greek vehicle manufacturers, and every achievement. First, I need to find myself a Greek car expert. After searching through the dark recesses of Greek car forums, I found Grigoris Sokratis, who is not an expert, but at least sounds like one.
According to Mr. Sokratis, Greece is famous for more than back hair; they once had a thriving little auto industry. Vehicle manufacturing in Greece started at the turn of the century, but did not blossom until the mid 1960’s. By 1984, however, the government enacted laws that restricted the industry and most car companies collapsed by 1990.
Fortunately, because of the short time period, we are able to sum up all the achievements made by the Greek auto industry in just three words: trucks, three-wheelers (I know, but it counts) and buses. What follows is the most accurate and complete list of Greek automakers ever compiled: Theologou, Biamax, Sfakianakis, Saracakis, Namco, Neorion, ELBO, Petropoulos, Malkotsis, Scavas, AK Hellas, Attica, DIM, AutoDiana, Balkania, MAVA-Renault, MEBEA, Motoemil, Ros, SAM, and Styl Kar.
Hope you enjoyed yourselves, I know I did.
Article courtesy of Chris Raymond
Photos courtesy of skyscrapercity.com